1. Field
The present invention relates generally to livestock handling equipment. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention concern a corral system that can be selectively installed at or removed from a location.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Corrals have long been used to gather, store, sort, separate, and treat various types of livestock, such as cattle. Prior art corrals typically include one or more pens with gates to permit animal ingress and egress. While some prior art corrals are permanently installed at a location, other corrals can be installed at one location and later moved to another location. In one embodiment of a conventional portable corral system, a plurality of discrete corral panels can be temporarily attached to one another with chain or wire. Other known portable corral systems use multiple panels that are permanently attached to one another and to a rolling chassis.
However, conventional corrals are known to have various deficiencies. For instance, permanent corral installations can only be used at one location to work cattle. While known portable corrals overcome this limitation of permanent corrals, such portable corrals are also problematic. For example, known portable corral systems are notoriously heavy and bulky. The weight and bulk of these systems makes them time consuming to deploy and retrieve. Furthermore, deployment and retrieval of these systems both require the cooperation of several people to lift and otherwise manipulate the corral panels.